Ok so Saturday was pretty cool. The Fat Tire guide had told us that Cathedral - the famous Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, that everyone talks about in Barcelona - was actually free to the public at certain times (I don't remember the times) so we decided to go check it out. The morning was spent goofing around the square outside the Cathedral and checking out the inside. If you get a chance, Google the history of the Cathedral. Its patron saint is a 13 year old little girl that was brutally killed for believing in Christianity.
After the Cathedral, we walked over to the Las Ramblas. Its a touristy street and great if you enjoy people watching. Personally, I didn't care too much for it. It was crowded and the stalls seemed to offer similar things for sales - kinda like Chinatown in NYC. The one cool part about Las Ramblas is that the Mercat de la Boqueria is located off of there. This place is the flipping bomb! Hustle and bustle market place offering really fresh and regional foods. Phenomenally clean; order in mass chaos! This is the place where you should go, buy yourself some treats and then go picnic somewhere (I would say Montjuic)
We eventually made it to the Zurich Cafe. Sat down, had a cafe and beer and watched the people go by. The day was long and we were tired so after this, we hopped back on the train and went back to the hotel for a nap.After our much needed sleep, we got ready and went to Camp Nou Stadium. This is where the revered FC Barcelona futbol team plays. This plays is fantastic in size and the city loves there futbol. Some interesting notes:
1. The game day is not finalized until 48 hours before totally sux for planning. In our case, we could have gone to the game either Saturday or Sunday.
2. There are no souvenir shops inside the stadium. It is nothing like America. Everyone is passionate about the game there is no sense of capitalism at all!
3. The place is huge and we walked up a lot of stairs and when we go there, the wind was strong. We were cold. So very glad that we invested in team bufondas (scarfs) outside the stadium before entering. (Cuz no one sells anything inside!)
4. There are no concession people selling up and down the aisle. Though people are drinking they weren't there to get drunk (sorry, my only reference is a Cubs game)
5. During half-time, everyone rushes down stairs to eat ham sandwich and drink coffee. They then go back upstairs and ALL the concession stands close down. Yes, the close down!
Overall, FCB won. They were playing Mallorca. Team favorite Massey came towards the end and scored a nice goal. (Score was 4 to 2)
Its not over yet. We went Camp Nou back to the Born district. We wound up at Caputxes restaurant (Italian) food was good but just like everywhere in Barcelona, the smoke like chimneys! We had a table of 4 next to us and I swear, we thought they would take turns lighting up just so they can enjoy the second hand smoke. Needless to say, that part sucked and I got oh-so sick after tonight.
This was the veggie burger. Resembles nothing like a burger and there was no bun but we found it amusing - possibly the bottle of wine adding to our amusement. And yes, we took a picture of the wine because it was actually pretty good...
